IELTS

It meets many published minima, including Stanford GSB’s 7.0 Academic. It is not a merit score. Programs that also list TOEFL 109 are asking for stronger language than a bare 7.0. If any skill sits at 6.0, read the fine print before you submit.

Result	Scale	What readers check	Source / date
Four skills	0–9 in 0.5 steps	Skill floors on some MBA pages	ielts.org
Overall band	Mean of four skills, rounded to 0.5	Typical published minimum (often 7.0)	ielts.org
Validity	2 years from test date	Usually must be live on the deadline	IELTS partners

The overall band is the average of Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking, rounded to the nearest 0.5. A 6.75 average becomes 7.0; a 6.25 becomes 6.5. That rounding can hide a weak Writing score if the school only prints an overall minimum. One Skill Retake is accepted at some programs and refused at others. Schools verify the Test Report Form through the Results Service; a scanned PDF is not official delivery.

Example: overall 7.0, Writing 6.0, Speaking 7.5. A school that lists “no band below 6.5” will not take the file. Retake Writing, or switch to TOEFL if that school’s TOEFL page has no section floor you would miss.

Academic. MBA admissions and most student-visa routes that mention IELTS want the Academic module. General Training is the wrong product for a graduate classroom file. If the confirmation email says General Training, cancel and rebook rather than hoping the admissions office will “understand.”

The IELTS partners recommend two years from the test date, citing second-language attrition. Business schools almost always adopt that window and tie it to the application deadline. Older Test Report Forms can sometimes be verified, but they are a poor plan for a current MBA round.

Yes, if each school accepts the test you send. ETS maps TOEFL 94 to IELTS 7.0, 102 to 7.5, and 110 to 8.0. That comparison is for readers. Send IELTS through the Results Service and TOEFL through ETS, using the codes on each admissions page.